About Me

31 January 2013

Day 66 / 102 - Week 15 Presentations

I have posted several times before about how my children are expected to give a 2 - 3 minute presentation each week during our Classical Conversations Foundations day. This is one area where I have seen ample growth in my children since when we started the program almost three years ago. Before, identifying weekly topics and encouraging them in their presentation skills was quite a bit of work. But now, they know this a core component of our morning. They know it is expected of them. And, they know what and how to prepare ahead of time. After three years, I am rarely involved in any step of their process.

This week, I was impressed with both my children and their choice of topics. My son recreated an Egyptian pyramid burial tomb out of Legos. He explained to his class a little bit about the mummification process and what went into the tombs. There were corridors (to deter grave robbers) as well as treasures and often modes of transportation to the afterlife. I'm not sure the picture does it justice. He briefly explained the largest ever pyramid tomb was the one that belonged to the pharaoh Khufu and described its dimensions.

My daughter spoke on origami. (A skill, I guess, she taught herself earlier in the week. I missed it.) She told her class a little about the history of the paper folding art, and then taught her class how to make a dog and a flower.

Of course, our main goal has always been to learn and refine public speaking skills. That in and of itself is more important than the choice of topics.